So, it has been a very long time, and you’ve played around with pretty much everything with your new Android device. It is now time to put things to the next level. Android imposes several restrictions on its users that limit the capabilities of the device to be used to its maximal potential.

This includes using any custom ROM, deleting system apps to even making a backup of all the Android data (NanDroid backup using Titanium backup) and much more. You can always get rid of all such restrictions by rooting your Android device. Here is a quick how-to guide that will help you to root your Android device.

For those, who are here looking for the guide to Unroot their rooted Android devices, we are also laying down steps for the same. Rooting and Unrooting is now pretty much easy, and you won’t need a PC for that purpose. Let’s move forward, shall we?

There are a lot many apps available for rooting and unrooting your Android device. Here is the list of apps that you can install on your Android device to root and unroot it. All the apps mentioned here lacks one or two functions but manages to do pretty much what we require.

Kingroot

One Click Root

FramaRoot

Vroot

Z4Root

Tower Root

Kingoroot

Iroot

CF Auto Root

How to root and unroot your android device

Kingroot.apk is meant to be installed on the Android device that you want to root. While you root, it is for your safety to make a backup of all your phone’s data before the rooting process. Although, Kingroot provide ‘No-data loss’ method that claims that the users won’t lose their phone’s data while rooting via the Kingroot app. But just to be on the safer end, we would recommend you to make a backup.

Step 1: Make sure the device you are rooting is connected to the internet and must have at least 60% battery remaining.

Step 2: First you need to install the Kingroot app on the device that you want to root. Any Android smartphone and tablet can be rooted via this method.

Step 3: The official Kingroot app isn’t available on the Google Play Store, so you need to download the app from the internet and side load it to your Android device.

Step 12: After the rooting is done, you’ll be taken back to the main screen where you’ll be displayed with a disclaimer message saying ‘Your device has been rooted’.

Step 13: You can alternatively check the root status of your phone by downloading the ‘RootChecker’ app from the Google Play Store.

Step 14: You can now install SuperSU app from the Play Store to get the maximum from your rooted android device.

Now that we’ve learned the procedure to get the root access on your Android device, we will move further to the unrooting guide.

You can unroot your android device with several methods

If you’ve SuperSU app installed on your device, go to the Settings on the SuperSU app and scroll down to the ‘Full Unroot’ option and choose ‘Continue’. Your device will return to the unrooted state.

Furthermore, with the latest builds of the SuperSU app, you can also unroot your device temporarily. Head over to the settings on the SuperSU app and look for ‘Temporary Unroot’ option and then continue with the on-screen instructions.

Alternatively, you can also use the Kingroot app to remove the root feature from your Android device.

Open up the Kingroot app and then choose the option ‘Remove or Uninstall Kingroot’. The device will get rid of the Kingroot app and the root features.

Final Words

Rooting is fun, but if you are not aware of what you are doing, please don’t play with your phone. You might end up with a completely bricked phone, which is of no use at all.

Note: Some devices might require the bootloaders to be unlocked first before applying the root. There are several tutorials given depending on the make and model of your Android device on the manufacturer’s website. Unlocking your bootloader may void your warranty.

Google Android 7.0 Nougat is the latest update of Android OS by Google. Nougat is a seventh major version of Android OS by Google & first released the beta version on 9th March 2016 and officially released on 22nd August 2016. Nougat comes with all new interface, features, performance, speed and with a secure platform. On Google, I/O conference google announced a biggest released of the year that was first beta version of Android N as a part of new “Android Beta Program”.

All New Features of Google Android Nougat 7.0

See in details features of Android Nougat 7.0;

Performance:

Nougat is a real game changer by improved main three functions of Android OS as JIT Complier, VR Mode and Vulkan™ API. Android JIT compiler upgrade runtime android device performance, compressed the size of storage space required in devices and makes system updates much faster. VR mode is ready to transport you to new worlds with coming Daydream and Daydream-ready phones. Vulkan™ API comes with high-performance 3D graphics, see application leap to life with sharper graphics and eye candy effects.

Battery & Data:

Productivity:

Split screen mode function offers to split screen in two part for the multi task, watch video while chatting on WhatsApp. A picture in picture mode allows watching Android TV while changing Facebook profile pic. Quick switch between your two most recently used apps.

Notification:

All new notification functions by Nougat like Bundled notifications, Direct reply, Notification controls. Bundle notifications notify new message from the individual application. Direct reply allows to quick reply direct from the notification shade. Notification controls provide different setting for notifications.

Privacy & Security:

Nougat provides some functions to control privacy & security setting such as Direct boot, Seamless software updates, File-based encryption, Scoped folder access and Trusted face. Direct Boot helps devices start up faster, and ensures that important communications still run after restarting android devices.

Android OS updates can download in the background, so you can go on with your day while your device syncs with the latest OS. Android Nougat introduces file-based encryption by encrypting at the file level instead of the block level, Nougat can better isolate and protect files for individual users on your device.

An application can be requested access to specific folders that a user can allow or deny access to personal files by Nougat 7.0. Trusted face is a part of Smart Lock, makes unlocking even easier to a new face recognizer.

HTC has confirmed it will be bringing Android Nougat 7.0 for HTC 10, One A9 and One M9.

Samsung will work hard to get Nougat on Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge by this year end.

Android Nougat vs Android Marshmallow

Google Android Marshmallow update was released in October 2015 after a long beta period, and Android Nougat was released on August 22nd. Nougat 7.0 adds multiple impressive features and improves on Android Lollipop and Marshmallow’s design.

After some performance test on both Android version here is the result, Android Nougat scored 489 during the test while Marshmallow 1410. During the PCMark test, Nougat 7.0 scored almost the same as Marshmallow 6.0, 4244 compared to 4287. 3DMark test revealed similar results, 1128 for Nougat 7.0 and 1233 for Marshmallow 6.0.

Conclusion

Google Android 7.0 Nougat has some advance features which change end users opinion about Android phone. Wait when your Smartphones get the notification about download latest version of Android or buy Google Smart Phones.

Author:

As an Author of TechNews KB, Barry Scholfield has experience of more than 5 years in IT industry and he is now working as an expert data recovery firm. He has quality expertise in the file viewer tools and loves to solve users query by providing excellent solutions.

Believe it or not Google Pixel is the first “Made by Google” where the best hardware meets the best software. With all the buzzes and expert views making rounds one can be pretty sure that iPhone got a direct rival and reasons to worry. It is available for pre-orders across USA, UK, Germany, Canada and Australia from October 6th its first shipping is expected to start from October 20th. Pre-ordering facility is available for India from October 13th so. Indian enthusiasts need not wait a lot to pre-order.

Google Pixel has predictably ticked all the boxes when it comes to specifications. It focused on key areas built-in Google Assistant with which you can easily get 24/7 artificial intelligence support available over chat or through phone including screen sharing option. Pixel highlights top class photography experience, Google Cloud so that one never runs out of space (eve after uploading photos of original size).

Pixel is built up from the ground for virtual reality with the Daydream VR. It is the first time phone to have Daydream VR for the best VR experience for its users. 143.8 x 69.5 x 8.5mm dimensioned phone is 143g by weight. It makes a splash and dust resistant body, but it disappointed the fans who were looking for a dual SIM. It has only one nano-SIM slot.

When it now comes to display it has a high resolution 16M colored 5 inch AMOLED capacitive touch screen. with body to screen ratio of 69 percent which are considered appropriate by the smart-phone critics.

This phone ensures multi-touch as well as protection of the screen. So, for protection, it has the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 4. When it comes to platform, everyone are expected to have high hopes on Google. But, it has not matched the soaring hopes though the platform that does not seem disappointing with the latest in-built system.

It comes with v7.1 (Nougat) Android OS. Andorid Nougat makes sure that you get a fast system and security updates. As system updates will happen in the background you can keep on using public phone normally.

Pixel runs on Snapdragon 821 processor. The CPU and Adreno 530 GPU are quad-core (2x2.15 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo) enabling fastest graphics and animation rendering capability. When it comes to memory it has 4GB RAM and allows up to whopping 128 GB storage, but regrettably it does not possess an external storage slot. When it comes to camera one can say it is the best damn-thing-ever-smart-phone-camera. The primary camera is about 12 MP with f/2.0, phase detection & laser auto-focus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash. The main features of primary camera are 1/2.3" sensor size, 1.55µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR and panorama. It also has a 8MP secondary camera with f/2.4, 1/3.2" sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size and 1080p video recording.

When it comes to sound it has a highly appreciable sound quality with active noise cancellation feature. With all the features matching the expectations battery is also not disappointing at this phone. It has non-removable Li-ion2770mAh Battery. It also supports fast charging as the experts say only 15 minutes of charging can let the phone run up to 7 hours.

After seeing at all the features many would be expecting that this phone’s price may be exceeding the price of the latest iPhones but surprisingly Google Pixel is set to be launched in India with a price Rs.57,000 (starting price). This can divert iPhone users to Google which may lead Apple to scratch its head over the direct rivalry with Google edging it with ease. So, if you are eager to experience the Gen-Next smartphones then missing Google pixel will be a decision you may regret.

What is a Router and Modem Default IP Address?

The setup page of your PC permits you to alter various settings (for the example, the name and passphrase of the Wi-Fi) as well as to view certain information. For this, we need the IP address of the router. But, let’s start at the beginning: all modems and routers have web-based interfaces and as a result, they are configured by a web browser. There are some modems and routers which can be accessed by their name, but all of them are accessed by way of the IP address. So, in order to have full access to a router, you need a username and a passphrase, although you cannot even get a prompt for this if you don’t know the IP address.

What is an IP address?

An IP address always consists of 4 numbers which are separated by full stops. A common home network uses an IP address which begins with the following line of numbers - 192.168. Most commonly, a router will possess an IP address like for example 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1.

Who knows the IP address?

In the case that the ISP (or Internet Service Provider) which you use has installed the router and modem, the provider knows the IP address as well as username and the passphrase for these devices. It is the experience of most techies that providers never disclose the information about the address to their customers directly. On the other hand, if you installed the router yourself, the IP address can be obtained from the documents given by the manufacturer (sometimes the address can be found on the router bottom, on a label).

How can we find the default IP address?

However, after setting up a network, every device on it can show the router’s IP address if we do what is necessary. This information can help:

WINDOWS:

The IP address of the router is the “Default Gateway” on Windows. There are a couple of ways of finding this address, this being the first one: use the command ipconfig in a window for Command Prompt. The other way is this one:

1. Open Control Panel (on Windows 10, this is done by right-clicking Start and choosing Control Panel).

2. Then click on View network status and tasks in Network and Internet.

3. Further, click your connection name to the right of Connections (the top-right corner of the page).

4. Then hit the Details button in the window that comes up and look for the IP address on the right of the IPv4 Default Gateway part.

On iPhone/iPad:

Open the app Settings, tap in Wi-Fi, and tap the name of the Wi-Fi network you are using. The IP address of the router will appear to the right side of Router.

Mac OS X:

Click on the Apple menu at the top of the screen (on the bar) and choose System Preferences. Then click on the icon called Network. Choose the network connection (Wi-Fi and a wired Ethernet connection). Then tap on the Advanced button which is located on the bottom, and click the tab TCP/IP. What you will see is the IP address of the router shown on the right.

Android:

It may sound strange, but the Android system offers no way of viewing the information on the network connection. Some third-party apps for Android show this information. What you need to do is install any one of it, tap in View and choose AP list. The top of the screen will show this header: Connected to: [Network Name]. Then tap on that, following which a window will be shown with some more info about the network. The address of the router is located on the right side of Gateway.

Linux:

The information we need is really easy to find with Linux desktop, as most Linux desktops have an icon in the notification area. Click on the network icon and choose Connection Information. You will be able to find the IP address next to Gateway or Default Route.

It is possible to find this address, the Internet Protocol one, on all other devices as well, as all devices which let you link to the network and see info about the network connection usually display it. All you need to do is look in the settings for network connections and look at the Gateway address.

Author Bio:

Masha Winget, owner of 192168ll.net is a technology writer & blogger by profession. She loves to write articles for many online communities, blogs, & websites related to computer tips & new technologies.

The Asus Zenfones wave seemed like ended with the Zenfone 2 clan of smartphones until Zenfone Max (2016) was released. Asus, this time has brought a powerful processor, better memory, better OS and massive battery in the smartphone that could reverse charge another smartphone like a powerbank. So, literally, you would have a 5000mAh powerbank in your pocket.

Battery may be highly eyed on, but it is not alone the master here. A smartphone is every sort of digital assistance for an average user. He would use it with any number of apps till the phone creaks out.

Asus Zenfone Max could be a long liver for some class of people and the hanger for some. It depends on the people and how they use it. If you are confused in buying a Zenfone Max, read this article, by the end, you will be having a decision.

No more confusions and no more waitings. Let's start reviewing the device.

Design

With little changes to the design ergonomics of the Zenfone 2, Asus have made profound changes to the Max version. Having the battery size in mind, it was made a little bulkier to 10.5mm thickness from the edges.

A nice gold coloured bezel was continued on to all the three coloured variants, black, blue and white.

The design is not as premium looking as previous models but toughly built. If design is one of the factors that are driving you to buy this phone, you better think about it once again.

Display

Zenfone Max has a 5.5 inch 720p IPS HD TFT display with 450 LED nits. This may not be the best of the class but not bad at the price point and the form factor it is made with.

Performance

Zenfone Max released in the year 2016 has Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal memory. The processor has been upgraded from SD 410 to SD 615 while the RAM remained the same and the internal storage has been doubled to 32GB with no change in the expandability up to 64GB.

The older Zenfone Max has Android Lollipop v5.0 based Zen UI on board where as the new 2016 model comes with Android Marshmallow v.6.0.1 based ZenUI.

Camera

Both the Zenfone Max versions have the same 13MP rear cameras and 5MP front facing camera accompanied by the dual-tone LED flashes. There made no change in the cameras here.

Network

Max supports LTE networks in both the slots unlike the previous versions that have only supported 4G in one slot and 3G in another. There are no changes in the network also comparatively to the older version.

Battery

The Zenfone Max has a massive 5000mAh battery that could last long more than 2 complete days on heavy usage as well. The Snapdragon processor optimises the performance with battery power as they are made to serve the better mobile computing. But the version of the SD processor might worry you with over heating sometimes.

Pros

+ Tough build quality

+ Better processor

+ New colour

+ Android Marshmallow based ZenUI

+ Doubled internal storage

+ Massive battery

Cons

+ SD 615 processor shows heating signatures

+ Not so premium design

+ Bulkier in size; Adding back covers may make it look much hulkier

Conclusion

If good battery, good processor, doubled internal memory are considered with the processor heating issues, Zenfone Max can become a good companion for you. This massive battery device is good for travellers who don't power use the smartphone but for navigation and simple internet. C'mon you can't expect more from a phone of Rs.10,000 range.

By the way, you have a choice here; If you don't use smartphone as a smart as it sounds and you wanted it for longer battery, you can simply opt out for older one which is now Rs.1000 off on Flipkart. Or else the Zenfone Max (2016) can be your good buddy.

The next reality era of gaming entertainment has started with Pokémon Go. The augmented reality game developed by Niantic Inc. is fulfilling the child dreams of youngsters today.

Pokémon was one of the best Japanese animated cartoon series that took children into separate world. Children of that times lived a secret life in leading character Ash and his friends’ Misty and Brock. A large stock of merchandize was being marketed at those times. Later children grew up and Pokémon merchandize was stopped. That led everyone into disappointment.

After a decade of bidding a goodbye, the Pokémon series now re-entered in the form of a augmented reality game. In this game, you will be exploring the Poke world with your phone just like the real Ash, Misty and Brock, catch Pokémons on the way, have fights, exchange Pokémons, badges and live that second life again, but in reality this time.

You can create a profile and character associated with it, customize the apparel. The character will be shown on the Poke world map (normal GPS map makes into Poke world map). It moves along with you just the tracker moves on the regular maps. You can open the camera and see the augmented objects and Pokémons roaming around. That means you will see the Pokémon world only through your camera that open in the game application.

You can throw Poke ball to catch the Pokémons wandering around you. You may challenge or be challenged by the other Pokémon Go players in your area.

YU has released a flagship device in India after all these days. From the first Zeus of smartphones to the color tailed Yunicorn, YU followed the trends of consumer taste and interest.

The YU Yunicorn reminds me of the Meizu M3 Note that was released a few days back into the country budget smartphone market.

Not completely, but partially, from the front. The back panel looks so similar to its competitors like the Redmi Note 3 and Meizu M3 again.

This metallic phone comes with MediaTek Helio P10 Octa-core processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and Mali T-860 GPU. The unit comes with 32GB internal memory on board and is expandable up to 128GB through microSD card.

The device runs on the Android 5.1 based Steroids operating system developed by AppGyver. This dual SIM 4G enabled device works GSM, WCDMA and LTE bands.

It weighs 172gms and measures 8.5mm thickness on the sides which is similar to the next alternatives under this budget, Redmi Note 3 and Meizu M3 Note. There is a reason for this thickness, the massive 4000mAh battery inside the unibody.

Yunicorn comes with 1080p Full HD display covered by the 2.5D glass. The fingerprint scanner just like the Meizu had on its front can store up to 5 finger prints for better and handful security.

Overall, the phone is impressive but the specifications sounds similar to the Meizu M3 Note which disappointed the market with its low performing hardware combo. The full performance tests are to be wait and watch.

Meanwhile, go through my reviews of the alternatives of Yu Yunicorn, the Redmi Note 3 and Meizu M3 Note. Detailed review will be published very soon.

The smartphones are tightening consumers necks with the similar specifications, design and price. Here comes the Meizu M3 Note and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 under the same category with the great similar looks and similar specifications.

Both the smartphones are available at the same price leaving all the confusion to the buyer. In this article, I’ll be differentiating the differences specifically in both the devices and at the end, you will be able to go with your choice.

Let’s begin!

Design: Metal vs Metal

The 18 wheels of metal it sounds like to me when I had the thought of comparing both the devices. Meizu M3 Note and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 are both the metallic devices with clean and aluminum alloys for their bodies.

Both these budget phones are inspired from the Apple iPhone 6’s design but with the minor changes to it. If you see the package of the Redmi Note 3, it exactly looks like that of an iPhone 6’s.

Meizu M3 Note on the other hand looks more like an iPhone than the Redmi Note 3. The metallic back, buttons, shape, finish and the position of the fingerprint sensor looks exactly like as of iPhone 6’s except the camera position.

Winner: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is no less beautiful and strongly built to the Meizu M3 Note, but the iconic iPhone 6’s design and the looks of M3 Note steals the show with a little extra few glitz.

Meizu comes in 8.2mm thinness and Redmi Note 3 in 8.65mm. This even makes Meizu a good choice.

Display: IPS LCD vs LTPS

Xiaomi and Meizu have embedded two different display technologies on its screen, IPS-LED and LTPS respectively. The both technologies have their own features. IPS-LCD gives the better color reduction, viewing angles and good color in-depth and LTPS gives a high resolution display using the low temperatures.

The common factor about the display is that they both have 5.5 inch 1080p display with the pixel density of 403ppi.

Both the phones comes with the screen protection glass, Redmi Note 3 with Dragon Sapphire and M3 Note with Dinorex T2X-1.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 comes with a special auto-brightness feature that enhances the dark pixels on the screen when under sunlight, where as the Meizu M3 Note comes with the normal auto-brightness feature.

Winner: Both the phones win the display challenge with the outstanding display modules. If you want to pick a phone in terms of display, better choose one that take low battery power would be better for longer screen-on times without any compromising of quality and resolution.

Performance: Snapdragon & Adreno vs MediaTek & Mali

The is the perfect round to assess a smartphone’s ability. It’s not the looks and the battery power that weighs more in choosing a smartphone, it is the performance.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 with Snapdragon 650 hexa-core performs a lot better than the Meizu M3 Note with MediaTek Helio P10 Premium Octa-core processor. Though, it seemed to be the Octa-core to be dominating, the hexa-core take the lead surprisingly.

Snapdragon 650 of XRN3 is coupled with the Adreno 510 GPU giving it the power of graphics and gaming. Where as the MM3N comes with Mali-T860 64-bit GPU, which brought up the expectations but failed in real time.

Gaming is found to be smooth and no lags identified on Redmi Note 3 in many tech reviews online but, Meizu disappointed with the disastrous frame dropping on high-end gaming even with moderate graphics setting.

Winner: Without no second thought, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 wins the performance round.

Storage: Hybrid vs Hybrid

Both Xiaomi and Meizu comes in two memory variants, 16GB and 32GB. They can be expanded up to 128GB through microSD card. Both the phones have the hybrid SIM with a choice and sacrifice option for the user.

Winner: Let’s call this a warm-up round. Both the phones stand at the same point in terms of memory expandability.

Camera: 16MP vs 13MP & 5MP vs 5MP

Both the phone cameras work the same irrespective of their modular configuration. The 16MP PDAF camera of Xiaomi is better at taking outdoor shots and videos in Full HD 1080P. With Google Open camera, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 can even record 4K videos.

The 13MP camera of Meizu is fast and right focusing the subject. The macro shots come much better on Meizu than the Redmi’s.

Winner: As camera is not just about the macro photography, I’d prefer to suggest the camera of Redmi Note 3 in case of all around photography.

Battery

The RN3 is having the powerful 4050mAh battery where as the M3N is having the 4010mAh that can give a full day (24 hour) charge on heavy usage as well.

Winner: Both are impressive but the LTPS of M3 Note might get the advantage over Redmi Note 3’s IPS LCD.

Final Verdict

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Meizu M3 Note are two great devices with wonderful premium design and specifications. The both devices are similar in many aspects expect the performance which is the mostly concerned metric while buying a smartphone.

Xiaomi heats up while charging and it is said to be normal when it happens with the beast performing device in a metallic armor.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 3: If you are wanting a device that doesn't compromise in performance and needed a day/2-day battery.

Buy Meizu M3 Note: If you are looking to have an iPhone like android smartphone in your budget and you don’t game heavy games on the device.

Meizu company has released the next M series smartphone, M3 Note with an iconic iPhone like design and good configuration. Those who dream of having an iPhone should take a look at this smartphone. Because, it can fill your appetite of having an Apple (apple like) device in hand.

Meizu had got some bad reviews so far on the internet regarding the performance. The chipset is a good gig on the paper, but let’s see what it has got and why it is getting so many negative reviews.

Design

Meizu M3 Note is out standing in its design. It has the closest design phone to the iPhone 6 among all the devices that were released with the similarity. The curves, the buttons and the back panel makes M3 Note quite a beauty.

The only thing that it differs from the iPhone design is that the position of the back camera and dual tone flash. Even the metal alloy used is the 6000 aluminum alloy that is used in making the iPhone’s body.

The size wise, the M3 Note weighs 163gms which is better than the last year’s Zenfone 2 series smartphones and wears a 8.2mm thick body from the side.

Impressions: I, as an Apple iPhone’s design lover, extremely satisfied with the Meizu’s design and curvatures.

Display

Meizu packed M3 Note with 1080p 5.5 inch screen that can render 403ppi with 1000:1 contrast ratio. The screen is protected by Dinorex T2X-1 Glass from scratches. So, there is no need of worrying about scratches. It uses the LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) technology to save more power and gives more screen-on time.

Impressions: The display is very good and sharp. It will make a good device for multimedia users in case of screen quality.

Performance

This device is powered with MediaTek Helio P10 Premium Octa-core processor coupled with 2GB/3GB RAM as optional. The duo is powered with Mali-T860 64-bit GPU. The mTouch 2.1 sensor with Flyme Assistive Touch technology gives user a brand new convenient experience. The whole hardware runs on Flyme OS 5.1 which is based on the Android Lollipop 5.1 operating system.

Impressions: The on-paper specifications are very good but the performance in terms of gaming and multitasking really sucks. It gets struck in every high end game even with medium graphic settings.

Storage

M3 note comes in two memory/storage versions. The 2GB RAM version comes with 16GB internal memory and the 3GB RAM version with 32GB internal memory. The storage can be expanded using the microSD card (through hybrid SIM slot).

Impressions: Hybrid SIM slots have been a tradition of smartphones these days. So, we can’t blame a single device for this.

Camera

Meizu M3 Note comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and 5-element lens accompanied by dual tone flash. The front camera is a 5MP shooter with f/2.0 and 4-element lens.

Impressions: Camera on Meizu is pretty impressive. The tap to focus works great in taking the macro shots with full clear focus on the subject and blurred background.

Connectivity

M3 Note supports 4G FDD-LTE in both the SIM slots along with the 3G WCDMA, 2G GSM, 4G TD-LTE and 3G TD-SCDMA.

It has GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Digital compass for location connectivity. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1

Impressions: Connectivity is no new in Meizu M3 compared to other smartphones. Thumbs up for connectivity.

Battery

Meizu comes with a 4100mAh high capacity battery that can hold the charge up to 2 days ion moderate usage. The LTPS screen technology gives more screen-on time with such a huge battery backup.

Impressions: Great battery backup. Fully satisfactory with the battery and price comparison.

Pros

+ Great premium design

+ Sharp screen with LTPS

+ Scratch protection

+ Good camera

+ Huge high capacity battery

+ Fingerprint sensor

+ Multipurpose single button (including fingerprint sensor)

Cons

- Lags a lot with multitasking and gaming

- Hybrid SIM is always a sacrifice

- Custom Android Flyme OS 5.1 is hard to get used to it

Verdict

Meizu M3 Note gives a great premium phone (iPhone 6) look in hand. The processor and RAM combo is great and should handle multitasking butter smooth.

Unfortunately, it lags like crazy skipping more number of frames while gaming under both high and moderate graphic settings.

This device is for those who won’t play games on the phone and only for general multitasking (not heavy) . This phone can also be considered for those who need longer battery life. The looks when holding it will dominate any other budget smartphone that was released so far.

The Meizu M3 Note is now available at Amazon for Rs.9,999 through flash sale. Follow this link to register for the next flash sale.

Think of yourself as a great movie lover? Well, how many of the movie apps of Android are you familiar with? I am sure the list wouldn’t be that long. Even without the help of all these apps you manage to watch a lot of movies. Think of how many movies you can enjoy with proper use of technology!

If you’re willing to stream movies online rather than watching them on your Android smartphone. Then check out this post, where you can find some of the best sites to watch movies online.

Now here we have come for the rescue, presenting to you the list of top 10 movie apps of android that sure is going to take your breath away. What are you waiting for? Let’s get started.

1. Netflix

Who can forget Netflix when it comes to watching movies? Netflix is the leading provider of movies and other videos across the world. It has no competitors in terms of quality and reliability. So where does the problem lie? Yeah, the problem lies on the fact that Netflix is not a free app. You got to pay Netflix for watching videos. But the pay is very less when compared to the benefits. If you are a true movie buff and cares about high quality videos, you sure got to have Netflix on your device.

2. MovieBox

Movie Box can be considered as the most popular movie app for Android. It lets you stream and download movies. You get to browse through the endless categories of movies and videos and watch them at your preferred time. You can create your own movie library and add movies manually as well. What more can a movie buff ask for? Well, you need to get your device rooted before you can use this application. It’s a bit difficult to download this application as well.

3. Crackle

Crackle is the app that you are looking for, if you are so much into movies and series. It lets you watch your favorite movies and series all for free! You can create your own favorites list of movies and series to watch later. You even have the provision to create a Crackle account such that you can log into Crackle from multiple devices and pick up exactly from where you left off. Yeah, sounds amazing, isn’t it? Crackle comes in the size of 11 MB and you can get Crackle from Google Play.

4. ShowBox

ShowBox is another popular movie streaming app for Android. Using ShowBox, you get to watch the latest Movies, Serials, and Series and so on. ShowBox is available both for Android and iOS platforms. There is a specially designed Windows application for ShowBox as well. ShowBox is totally free and totally cool. I would suggest ShowBox for every movie lover out there. Thousands of users have already downloaded this app and experienced its benefits. What are you waiting for? You can get ShowBox from Google Play.

5.Movie HD

Movie HD app is specifically designed for those who are in love with watching and streaming movies as well as TV shows. Movie HD app is available in a wide variety of Operating System platforms and is highly reliable. The app has a huge collection of movies from which you can choose and it extends its reach to 3D videos as well. The User Interface of Movie HD app is something’s to admire. Navigation is so easy with well-defined boundaries between different genres. There is the option of search which helps you find your movies of choice with such ease and pace. After you download the APK, you might need an additional application to stream videos.

6.PlayBox HD

PlayBox HD app can be considered as an alternative to apps like Movie HD app and Show Box app. PlayBox HD app also offers free streaming of movies and TV shows. PlayBox app lets you download videos and watch them when you are offline as well. An important feature of PlayBox HD app is that it has various subtitles sources available in different languages. It also supports the feature of Chrome cast. PlayBox HD app is available in both iOS and Android platforms. You can get the Android version of PlayBox HD app from this link.

7.ViewSter

ViewSter comes next in the list of top 10 movie apps for Android. Viewster also offers several of the features that other movie apps offer. It is cost free and it has high quality videos. It offers wide variety of videos including movies, anime, music etc. You can browse through the huge collection of videos in Viewster and the results can be sorted in any order that you like to see them in. Viewster has a great User Interface. The videos load with a bit of a delay, but since the video quality is good, this little delay is often ignored. You can get Viewster from here.

8.Flipps

Using the Flipps app, you get to stream latest movies, music and TV shows as and when you need. You can connect your mobile device to your home TV and watch the movies without a set top box or a cable connection. Even YouTube videos can be watched on TV with high resolution. Tell me how cool that is! Flipps is definitely an inevitable app for all the movie lovers out there. You can get Flipps from Play Store.

9.Hubi

Using Hubi app, you can download and stream your favorite videos from the most popular streaming services available. Hubi is totally free. Hubi has a lot of attractive features. Hubi allows you to keep a list of watched videos, it has a clean interface which is easy to use, it lets you download videos and watch them later, it lets you share video links with your friends and family and a lot more. Hubi definitely redefines one’s idea of a movie streaming app. You can download Hubi app from Google Play Store.

10. Movies by Flixster

When it comes to movies, Movies by Flixster app has a lot to offer than you can think of. It is the app for movies, I should say. It lets you create movie lists and lets you have a look at the movie lists of your friends. It has latest movie trailers included and definitely you can have a look at those cool trailers. Flixster even lets you book tickets online to watch your favorite movies. You can see the Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews from this app. The interface of the Flixster app is simple and you can access almost anything and everything instantly with this interface. You can get Movies by Flixster App from Play Store.

Author Bio:

This article is written by Rahul Gupta. He is the CEO & Founder of CrunchyTricks. He is online since 2014 and had helped many bloggers and startups to achieve what they want. He writes about Blogging, SEO, Social Media, Affiliate Marketing & Tech.

The best of the Google I/O 2016 I’ve known is the Android Instant Apps. As we have seen in the past, Instant Apps load like a website on the android devices with Jelly Bean and above without being installed.

The Google’s intention of making the user access the app in a very few click as possible can be achieved. But this will show some side effect on the smartphones’ flagship configurations.

Wondering how? Read more..

During 1GB RAM times, the smartphones are considered to be great with such a lot of physical memory on board. Later, with the next versioning of the Android operating system, the necessity for more physical memory has also been increased.

The reason is the OS alone started consuming a lot of memory, say 1GB at least to run. If a device had 2GB of RAM, the rest of the 1GB is used for the apps. This is very close situation to those 1GB RAM devices of the past but masqueraded by the on-paper specification of 2GB RAM on board.

With only 1GB left for apps, one cannot use more than 5-6 apps on the device as they occupy it to run some background services always. This couldn't satisfy the hunger for more apps. By the way, one can install as many apps as one can until the ROM fills in.

Later with the launch of smartphone startup companies and their new flagship devices with 3GB and 4GB RAM on board have satisfied the hunger of having more apps on the phone. Smartphones like OnePlus One and Asus Zenfone 2 have set some standards in the industry for flagship for their competitors.

Now let’s get back to the story;

Those 2GB RAM devices are good enough to run web browsers on the devices and they are good for running some apps with exclusive usage of system resources. Instant apps, as we know are not necessarily be installed on the device, can run without any lag as the code and services will be loaded in modular basis from the Google servers.

Does this give you any catch?

If that happens, what’s the need of having powerful flagship devices spending hundreds of dollars. The smartphones flagships in different pricing scales that are available now would have to come down with the prices. Don’t you think?

Android Instant Apps & Smartphones Flagship Tradition

It is not always about the on board memory. Flagship includes new hardware and new processors. Some processor need the most of the memory to give their best in performance.

If we take an example of Asus Zenfone 2 with Intel Atom processor, it would consume more RAM than the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. So, it’s not just the apps and other software that consume the memory it’s the processor capability too.

Google have already invited the developers to include the instant app modules in their future apps and upgrade the old ones. That means, the new apps might not need any new hardware specifically.

On the flipside, some application with heavy graphics like games cannot be instantiated. Because, they need the real resources from the native device to run smoothly. To run applications of those kind, we might need the flagship tradition to go on.

Android apps that can be instantiated would be the shipping apps, paying apps, particular shops, or product apps for checkout, news apps, information apps, form filling apps, enquiry apps and some social media apps.

Apps like games, and graphics applications might not be possible to instantiate. So, we would need the flagships for those that cannot be made Instant apps.

Samsung took the best features of their Galaxy S5 and S6 and molded them together to come up with the Galaxy S7. When you look at the sleek design of the phone, it reminds you of the S6; in fact, many people say that it should have been called the S6S. However, the changes in the phone necessitated the S7 branding, because they are immense; this is not just a simple upgrade of the S6, but a completely new version.

The Galaxy S7 borrows a lot from the S6 when it comes to the exterior design. It also borrows from the S5 with the addition of a Micro SD slot. The sound system is great and this is good news for people who love to listen to music on their phone. With MobileGo, you can now move your favorite tunes from your PC to the phone, to listen to when you are on the move.

Step by step guide: Import music to Samsung Galaxy S7 from PC with MobileGo

Step 1: Connect your phone to your computer

Using your USB cable, connect your Samsung Galaxy S7 to your PC. You can also scan the QR code on MobileGo to connect your phone to the PC via WiFi.

Step 2: Go to the Music tab

Go to the “Music” tab on the left side of the screen, and click on it; you will be presented with a list of all the music files stored on your phone. At the top of the screen, you will see an “Add” button; click on it and in the dropdown menu, select “Add File”. You can also “Add Folder” if you want to import a full music folder to your Samsung Galaxy S7.

Step 3: Choose the music files or folders to add

A pop-up window will be launched, from where you will select your music files or folders.

Step 4: Wait for the file to be transferred to your Samsung Galaxy S7

Your music file or folder will be added to your phone. You will see the file or folder listed in your default music listing on MobileGo.

Conclusion

It is wonderful to plug your headphones into your Samsung Galaxy S7 and listen to your favorite music when you are travelling or away from your computer. With MobileGo, you can import music files and folders to your phone with just a few clicks of the mouse. The playback on this flagship device is crystal-clear; another of the features that contribute to the success of this phone in the market.

Google has announced a new word in the #IO16 along with the messaging and video calling apps, Android Instant Apps to enable the quick accessing of power and flexibility of android.

Instant apps doesn’t need installation. Yes, They don’t!

In fact, there is nothing to do with what Android (at least Jellybean 4.1) phone do you have. You no need to install any special software or need any upgrade to your hardware. Android Instant Apps work faster, safer and functional.

What are Android Instant Apps actually?

Android Instant Apps are just android application that run without need to install them on the device.

Let me bring out an example, Your friend has shared a video link from the Super Videos (let’s assume) app through WhatsApp messenger. When you click on the click from your phone, it, instead of asking the user to install the app (which is what happening so far), will open the app itself like a website instantly and show you the content.

Let’s consider another example, you went for shopping and the shop gives some exclusive discounts on some products if bought only from their app. You don’t have enough space on the device for app installation but you want the app to avail the discount. Then if you can access the instant app link of that particular product to checkout.

How is it possible? How apps can run without installing?

Interesting. Isn’t it?

The Google’s intention behind introducing the instant articles is that they want to reduce the breadcrumbs to reach the target page of content. They want people access the app in just a few clicks and get their job done.

To enable such access, Google has introduced a new update to the Android with some Instant App modules that generate the content with instant access.

That’s okay! But how do they open without installing?

Remember I told you about the friend sharing a link? Yes, the apps with Instant App code modules will be hosted on the Google servers automatically and will be served on to the devices on request and requirement.

I guess a clean picture will help you understand well:

Let us suppose the green triangle as the Google Server/Google Play Store, the two orange rectangles as two android smartphones and the grey circle as the external source such as internet.

The both android phones can download the application from the Google Play Store as usual if they want to use it or, they can access the particular piece of functionality of the application through the link shared in between the phones or provided from the other sources of the internet.

The application works the same either ways and is fast, reliable and secure too.

Google have already updated some of the famous applications as the instant apps that can be accessed as we have discussed above. They are BuzzFeed, B&H Photo, Hotel Tonight, Zumper and Disney. Google announces the access to developers to turn their apps into Instant apps.

Google has introduced two new messaging and video calling apps in IO16, the Google I/O event of 2016. These two app are named ‘Allo’ and ‘Duo’ and are developed to change the experience of messaging and video calling.

Those who are already using Hangouts app on the phone will migrate to Allo and Duo just like people migrated on to Inbox from default Gmail app. The two apps differ a lot in user experience.

Meet Allo, the smart messaging app

Allo messaging application is smart and makes your conversations more expressive. All the contacts in the phone will be integrated to the application once installed. You can start conversations with the contacts right after the installation and setup.

The smart features will keep the conversations flowing and get things down with semi-automation. It learns from the user and determines to choose the replies based on the message received and give them as suggestions.

If someone is uses ‘lol’ more than ‘haha’, the app suggests the word ‘lol’ at appropriate time. It happens the same with the ‘haha’ if it is widely used. The machine learning nature helps the conversations flow faster and butter smooth.

Allo comes with the Google assistant that allows you to search the information right from the app. You can chat one-on-one with Google assistant or make calls in a group chat. There is no need to switch among the apps to book a dinner that was fixed in the conversation, set a bet and check the scores of the match that was going on.

Along with the maps and video sharing, Allo allow users to translate conversations right on the go. This feature will be very helpful for those who will be using the native language keyboard for convenience.

Meet Duo, the new video calling app

Duo is a simple and fast video calling application made to work in the all bandwidth conditions. Hoping that it would work with the low bandwidth internet connections too unlike Hangout app.

It is a full screen video calling app with no cluttering UI elements. This app features the live video preview of the caller on the screen while it’s ringing. The preview will establish full communication between both the parties when you answer the call.

Duo can self-adjust the video quality based on the network quality. It can render HD video up to 720p quality. It can transition calls between the cellular and Wi-Fi networks without the call drops efficiently.

And everything that goes to ear to ear is encrypted.

Google is planning to bring both these apps for both Android and iOS in coming months in this year itself.

Be with us on social media channels to know when it is released. Because, we can’t wait to experience them too.

Lenovo has released a beast into the Indian market for ₹13,499 ($319.99 USD). The ZUK Z1 looks neat, is well built and has very good hardware specifications. It is definitely a threat to the position of budget beast Redmi Note 3 in the market except the ₹1,500 extra price.

Let’s take a look into the full technical specifications, pros and cons of the Lenovo ZUK Z1 and see if it truly a competition for Xiaomi Redmi Note 3.

Design

The design of Lenovo ZUK Z1 is interesting with a metallic bezel around the device and a cloud grey plastic back. It is also available in ceramic white with glossy white back panel. The white version looks a bit like Samsung Galaxy phone from the front side.

It has power button and volume rockers on the right side crafted comfortable for right hand use. On the left it has that SIM tray, on the top, the 3.5mm headphone jack and on the bottom it has the microphone, type-c USB port and loud speaker.

It weighs 175gms and has 155.7x77.3x8.9mm dimensions with slightly curved back summing up the width to the 8.9mm from the middle of the phone.

Impressions: Very good and clean design.

Display

ZUK Z1 comes with a 5.5 inch full HD display of 1080p resolution with the pixel density of 401 and 1500:1 contrast ratio. It is a non air-gap screen that is used on ZUK Z1 with fingerprint proof coating and display polarizer coating.

Impressions: Good for gaming and running multimedia content.

Have you seen Creo Mark 1, the 2K resolution display smartphone? Yes! 2K resolution on the screen will give you stunning picture quality. See more details about Creo Mark 1.

Performance

The Lenovo ZUK Z1 is packed with the Snapdragon 801 processor the one OnePlus One had. It is coupled with the 3GB LPDDR3 RAM and Adreno 330 3D GPU that runs at 578MHz.

The processor and RAM is a very good combo but it has complaints of over-heating. Even though the GPU is not a big one, ZUK Z1 exhibits excellent gaming performance with no lags even while playing heavy games.

The chipset is sparked with the Android 5.1.1 based Cyanogen mod 12.1 operating system.

Impressions: The temperature of the device touches 41+ degrees with 5-7 minute gaming. It is better than other devices that heat up like crazy nuts.

The front camera is a 8MP one with the same 1.12 microns and OmniBSI-2 technology. Both the cameras have Qualcomm’s dual-core ISP image processing solutions, MORPHO optimization algorithms and image optimization algorithms.

Impressions: Both the cameras are very good in terms of photography.

Connectivity

Lenovo ZUK Z1 is a dual SIM phone with Nano slots. It doesn't have external SD card support as we have seen in storage section. It supports the WCDMA/GSM/4G LTE networks with following bands:

Impressions: The connectivity features are impressive with Typc-C and double LTE Nano slots.

Battery

ZUK Z1 comes with 4100mAh powerful Li-Ion non-removable battery that can last long more than a day and half once fully charged. It supports quick charging on the top which is necessary for a big batteries.

Impressions: Wonderful battery with so much juice to have the freedom of usage.

Pros

+ Very good design

+ Powerful processing capability

+ Lag-free gaming

+ Good cameras

+ Great internal memory

+ Typc-C connectivity

+ OTG Support

+ Huge battery

+ Fingerprint scanner

Cons

- Over-heating issues with the processor

- Camera performs weak in low light conditions

- No external memory card slot

- No proper information on service centers

Final Verdict

Lenovo and ZUK were built a great association in bringing up the Z1 as a powerful competitor for the market rulers like Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Except the issues with the processor and camera, the smartphone is quite a grabbing material.

Moreover, ZukMobile has no proper information about the service centers all over the world for the questions asked by the users. It is what that tickles the users while buying. As it is introduced by Lenovo, ZUK Z1 smartphones might be repaired in the Lenovo stores if encountered any problems.

Lenovo ZUK Z1 is now available on Amazon in a flash sale. You may register for the next sale from this link.

Micromax has released the swag smartphone out into the market with a lot of attitude era hash tags and taglines. Canvas 6 Pro as it is named tags a line “Enough RAM to kick boredom's ass” right on the homepage highlighting the 4GB RAM and 2.0 GHz Helio processor. This phone is neither metallic built or glossy finished. it isn’t even have premium looks but looks to be having a powerful configuration as boasted by the company.

Let’s walkthrough the technical features of the phone and see if it is also a real swag out nature rather than just on paper.

Design

Micromax manufactured Canvas 6 Pro with rubberized polycarbonate panel purely unlike metallic Canvas 6. The device is a 5.5 inch device, so have those big boy looks. The rubberized panel gives a better grip compared to the metallic Canvas 6. The phone is built strong and the build quality is very good. This looks a bit thicker than the phones of this season but yet looks powerful with its on–paper specs.

Impressions: No special looks in the design. Build quality is very good.

Display

The Canvas 6 Pro have 5.5 inch IPS Full HD 1080p display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with 16M colors rendering capacity. The display quality is good have good viewing angles. The color reproduction is good but it struggles in the sunlight.

Performance

Canvas 6 Pro runs on Android Lollipop 5.1. The possibility of the Marshmallow upgrade is still unknown. The unofficial internet sources expect the Android 6.0 on this device in future.

Impressions: Good at multi-tasking.

Storage

Canvas 6 Pro comes with 16GB internal storage in which almost 6GB is preoccupied by the operating system itself. Finally, the user gets 9.23GB of memory left on the device.

The memory can be expanded up to 64GB through microSD card which is a bit disappointing.

Impressions: Minimum storage expandability limit of 128GB is expected from this ass-kicker.

Camera

Canvas 6 Pro comes with 13MP AF primary camera and 5MP front camera with with FF lens. The rear camera is accompanied by the LED flash and can take pictures of 3120x4160 resolution. The front camera on the other hand can take 1920x2560 resolution pictures.

Impressions: The pictures taken with both the cameras are decent but not yet very good. The colors looks somewhat faded out. The good thing about the camera is the shutter speed. It can take photos in a snap. Hope that the camera performance is upgraded with any software update.

Connectivity

The Micromax Canvas 6 Pro is a dual SIM device with Micro and Nano slots combined. It has micro USB slot (also charging port) and 3.5mm headphone jack. This is a 4G enabled phone which has the HSPA specification of WCDMA at DL-42Mbps/UL-11Mbps and LTE at DL-150Mbps/UL-50Mbps.

Pros

Cons

There are many other better smartphones available at the same price point Canvas 6 Pro is available for. Check them out here.

Verdict

Micromax gloats on the 4GB RAM in the device and forgets about the rest it seems. The 4GB RAM is a great deal and will allow better multi-tasking. But, the overall performance of the device including the camera is not so impressive.

If you are looking for a touch phone for power usage, Micromax might be your cup of tea. You can buy Canvas 6 Pro on Flipkart right from here.

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